his holy Mountain; and he is then said to take to himself his great Power and Reign, when he destroys them that destroy the Earth.
[21] And, again, One that hath Faith in Jesus, is waiting for that time, when Kings shall shut their Mouths at him; Princes shall see and arise, and he’ll strike through Monarchs in the Day of his Wrath, and wrinch his Glory out of their Hands, who have taken it from him.
Again, waiting for this Salvation, prepares a Man for the Day of Battle. A Christian does not fight upon those Hazards that others do, who lose two Lives at once, that which drops in the Field, and that which is eternal. The believer in these Dangers takes himself to be fighting the good Fight, and keeping the Faith; and if his Course is at an end in this Attempt, it will be finish’d with Joy.
And thus have I set before you the two Tempers that distinguished these Tribes. Here’s Death, and Life, and Cursing, and Blessing: The Choice must now be your own Act. My Time hath suffer’d me to do little more than take the Words to pieces, and consider the Parts of ’em asunder; you’ll easily apply what you have heard these two ways.
1. Into a full Resentment of those Doctrines that would perswade you out of your Liberties upon the same Terms that Issachar parted with Theirs. ’Tis pity that humane Nature it self should be so far debased; but ’tis with an Aggravation that we see the Holy Name of Christ hath been blasphem’d; that those Mysteries must be our Choice, which was the Romans Abhorrence; as the Apostle saith in another case, it’s a Fornication not so much as nam’d among the Gentiles. Do not take it for a small matter, for at this Gap do they throw in all the Superstitions of Worship, their damnable Doctrines, as well as their cruel Measures. ’Tis by this means they’ll steal away your Religion, and fill the Nation with Darkness, and Blood.
2. This calls us up to the Praises of God, who deliver’d us from the Stupidity of Issachar, and inspir’d [22] us with the Temper of Dan, at our Revolution.
I’m sensible, this Mercy hath had all the Regards that the Children of Israel gave to the Manna which fell from Heaven. At first we gather’d it, we tasted it, liv’d upon it, and reckon’d it Angels Food; now ’tis but light Bread, and we want Flesh to eat; nay, as it is said of Sodom, we are going out after strange Flesh: And I doubt not but the Parallel would hold further, that it must come as soon out of Our Nostrils, as it did out of Theirs. What they desir’d in their Lust, they enjoy’d with a Plague, for e’re it was chew’d, while it was yet between their Teeth, the Wrath of God fell upon ’em.
But I would recommend the great Things that He hath done for us, to your Value and Care; and this can be expressed in no better way, than by walking in the Light, while we have the Light; a Conversation that becomes the Gospel; an Aborrence of any thing that would mingle with your Religion, or defile your Practice; a Pity to the poor Protestants in France, upon whom the Clouds have return’d after the Rain; a having no Fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness. And, whoever they are that have no Compassion for Blood, no Reverence for Leagues, O my Soul! come not thou into their Secret, unto their Assembly, mine Honour be not thou united; for in their Anger they slew a Man, and in their Self-will they dig down a Wall: Let such Counsel of the Wicked be far from me, I have waited for thy Salvation, O Lord.
FINIS.
[22] NATHANIEL NILES 1741-1821
NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS, 1774
Niles was something of a universal man in the pattern of Benjamin Franklin but without matching Franklin’s productivity or acquiring his fame. Achieving little success with several inventions in his father-in-law’s Connecticut factory, he headed a party that settled new land along the Connecticut River, halfway to the north end of Vermont. From that base he preached and practiced a little medicine (though licensed to do neither), served eight terms in the Vermont legislature (augmenting three terms down at Hartford before he left Connecticut), occupied a succession of other offices, including three years as a Vermont Supreme Court judge, and made money from his farm. Niles delivered this sermon at the North Church in Newburyport on June 5, 1774, only a few weeks after the British closed the port of Boston. The people of Massachusetts were not sure how much support they would receive from elsewhere in the colonies, but they knew the reprisal for radical activity would cause hardship for the people of Boston—the center of revolutionary activity. In this setting Niles begins with a careful, insightful, and dispassionate analysis of liberty. He calls upon the traditional American values of frugality and simplicity to see them through hardship. Then, in the last seven pages, Niles builds a rhetorical masterpiece that has to be one of the best examples available for conveying a sense of that time in our history. Even today it is difficult not to feel the power of the words. For both analysis and rhetorical power this sermon is at least equal to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Only the first of the two discourses is reproduced here.
ADVERTISEMENT.
As what was said in public on the following subjects, was delivered, almost entirely extempore, the author finds it impossible to give an exact copy. Those things however, on account of which, he apprehends, a copy was desired, have been carefully preserved. The particular expressions could not be recollected, but the ideas are not lost. Several new thoughts on the subject are interspersed.
The author’s general design is to awaken in his countrymen, proper sentiments and emotions, respecting both civil and spiritual liberty. The former, without the latter, is but a body without a soul.—As the copy is so suddenly called for, the first, rough draught, goes to the press; and the author doubts not, but many imperfections will be observed in the stile and manner; which however he trusts are less evils, than a delay at a time when every means, however imperfect, is needful, that may inspire a genuine spirit of true liberty. He feels that he wants those advantages which many others enjoy, for becoming entirely acquainted with the various branches of civil liberty.—The main ideas alone are attended to. The inquisitive mind will be able to draw a number of important consequences.
[5] SERMONI.
I. CORRINTH. Chap. VII. ver. 21.
Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
At first glance, it is certain, this text refers to a state of personal servitude, and extends to every instance of the same kind. It is also as clear that the Apostle exhorts the servant to prefer liberty. This proves that the inspired writer himself, prefered liberty to a state of servitude; for he would not exhort another to prefer what was not preferable in his own esteem. Now, if Paul esteemed personal liberty a valuable inheritance, he certainly esteemed the liberty of a community a far richer inheritance; for if one man’s enjoyment of it was a good, the enjoyment of two must be a greater good, and so on through the whole community. From the same manner of reasoning, the slavery of a community [6] appears to be a proportionably greater evil than the slavery of an individual. Hence, we may observe from the text, that CIVIL LIBERTY IS A GREAT GOOD.
This is the proposition to which I ask your present hour’s attention, and if it should appear in the sequel to contain an important truth, you will not esteem it below the gospel preacher’s duty to explain and support it in public, especially at such a time as this, a time, at the very prospect of which, our generous
